UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC believe that FIFA president Gianni Infantino's recent plan to sell an interest in the World Cup was a “fundamental breach of trust” with the institutions world soccer's governing body serves.
In an “open letter to the football family” revealed on Monday, UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC also said that “when trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.”
UEFA runs soccer in Europe, CONCACAF does the same for North, Central America and the Caribbean, while the AFC governs the sport in Asia.
The letter was co-signed by UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, AFC president Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani and three general secretaries.
“Football is the world’s greatest shared passion. It belongs to no individual and no institution. It belongs to the players, the fans, the clubs, the member associations and every institution entrusted with safeguarding its future,” the open letter said. “It is in that spirit, as confederations representing its members, that we speak collectively today.”
Infantino is facing a revolt after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors.
“It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him,” the letter said. “These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.”
UEFA previously issued a threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions despite the governing body abandoning and apologizing for its failed plan.
Norway’s soccer federation called for Infantino to step down, while the English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election next March.
“Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now,” the letter said. “For leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.”
Last Wednesday, FIFA said it had apologized for errors made over the failed plan but that senior staff at a crisis meeting in Morocco “reaffirmed their full support” for his presidency.
However, the nature of the meeting was also met with criticism.
“FIFA’s own letter also confirms that only one elected official was present at the leadership meeting in Morocco,” the open letter said. “No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate. Only the management committee, composed of FIFA-employed senior staff, was present.”
FIFA was also urged to go further than just acknowledging mistakes were made.
“It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment,” the letter said. “There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgment — not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve.”
In a statement Saturday, FIFA defended Infantino against what it called a “concerted and ongoing effort” to undermine his leadership of the organization.
That statement followed a report by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph raising questions about an exit package paid by UEFA to a female staffer who worked with Infantino when he was general secretary of European soccer's ruling body.
UEFA confirmed that a “departure payment” was made to the employee and said it was “in line” with regulations at the time.
Infantino worked at UEFA for 16 years before being elected FIFA president.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrives for the inauguration of President Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
MOUNT BROMO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia intensified efforts Monday to combat a growing number of wildfires across the archipelago, deploying helicopters, hundreds of firefighters and disaster personnel as blazes spread through a popular national park in East Java and peatlands in Sumatra during an unusually dry season, officials said.
Scores of firefighters, backed by 43 helicopters, have been deployed to battle wildfires that have burned more than 107,000 hectares (264,000 acres) of forests and other land across the Southeast Asian nation, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Djamari Chaniago said.
East Java authorities said the largest blaze is burning in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java province, where about 743 hectares (1,836 acres) have been scorched. Authorities have closed the park to visitors until further notice.
It said the fire has burned large areas of dry grassland, vegetation and protected edelweiss flowers as flames have spread to the Penanjakan area, a popular viewpoint for tourists visiting Mount Bromo, one of Indonesia’s best-known attractions. No injuries or evacuations have been reported.
Chaniago said weather-modification, or cloud-seeding, operations are considered one of the most effective ways to help firefighters combat wildfires by inducing rainfall through the dispersal of salt particles into suitable clouds. Strengthening El Nino conditions have raised the risk of more forest and land fires during the peak dry season.
However, the effort would be difficult to carry out because scientific monitoring “found no rain-bearing clouds suitable for weather-modification operations through Aug. 18,” Chaniago told a news conference Monday. He spoke after a meeting with related ministers and agency chiefs dealing with wildfires in the capital, Jakarta.
With cloud-seeding ruled out because of unfavorable weather conditions, "we are relying solely on water bombing and ground firefighting teams,” said Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni while visiting Mount Bromo on Sunday. He urged the public to avoid activities that could spark new blazes, including discarding cigarette butts and clearing land by burning.
Several other wildfires have been reported across Indonesia during an unusually dry season.
More than 50 hectares (124 acres) of peatland have burned in Jambi province on Sumatra island, causing choking haze in some areas and raising concerns about worsening air quality. The largest fire has been reported in the village of Sungai Gelam in the Muaro Jambi district, where dozens of hectares of palm oil plantations owned by local residents have been destroyed. The blaze has burned since Wednesday.
About 300 firefighters and disaster personnel have been deployed to battle the fire. Officials said deep peat soil, limited water supplies, difficult access and strong winds have complicated efforts, even with three helicopters conducting aerial firefighting operations.
Forest and peat fires are an annual problem in Indonesia that strain relations with neighboring countries.
Malaysia has reported unhealthy air-quality levels in parts of Sarawak state on Borneo island, with officials saying winds were carrying smoke from hot spots in neighboring areas. In Singapore, authorities have warned that prevailing southeasterly winds could carry smoke toward the city-state, with dry conditions expected to prevail.
“We must uphold the nation’s credibility by showing that we can bring these fires under control,” Chaniago said.
Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency said August and September are expected to be the most critical months as dry vegetation and strong winds create favorable conditions for fires to spread rapidly.
Wildfires in Indonesia, an archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, are often started illegally by plantation owners or traditional farmers to clear land for planting.
Karmini reported from Jakarta. Associated Press writers Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
In this photo released by the East Java Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, firefighters attempt to extinguish a wildfire that razes through Mount Bromo National Park in Probolinggo, Indonesia on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (East Java Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency via AP)
